First time using a non-cartridge!(And it was a feather RG)

New to the world of wet-shaving? Grab a desk and be seated! Welcome to SMFU: A place to learn and compare notes about the ABC's of wet shaving. From brushes to creams, razors and more...We've got it all!
Post Reply
tom10168
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:57 am

First time using a non-cartridge!(And it was a feather RG)

Post by tom10168 »

:D
Wow!

I bought this razor and didn't tell anyone because everyone said get a DE and I didn't want to disrespect advice so I just kept quiet. I haven't been home until today so today(which is my day off) was my first day to use it.

For about a week now I've had a cheap $5 brush I bought at Wal-Mart, Williams shave soap and L'Occitane cream in a tube.
I had terrible lather with the Williams so I got the L'occitane, and that gave me ok lather but nothing like I've seen in Mantic's videos.

For good measure I went out and bought some Loccitane soap because I've heard good things about it, and because I've heard amateurs(me) have a hard time with soap I went to The Body Shop and got some of their cream.(Their large tub is half the price of L'Occitanes and they also sell small tubes for $8... they also have buy 1 get one half off)

I first tried the Loccitane soap and did my first pass, the lather was there but somewhat thin, I tried adding more soap but it didn't seem to help much, I assume my brush is Boar so I figured it'd work well but I was left disappointed.

I still went on with my first WTG pass and I was really nervous. I was watching myself in the mirror and my hand was shaking!

I found the razor to be really forgiving. It seemed like the flatter to your face you went the lighter it shaved, and the closer you went to perpindicular it shaved closer, doing the WTG I was afraid to keep it more flat as I thought I'd be more inclined to slice my face open so I kept it at around 40 degrees I guess.

It was cutting hair and it did make a good sound which I liked, and I became less nervous, I have a chinstrap and a small moustache(which could be a huge reason why I found this to be so easy) and I found the cheeks quite easy but my left sideburn area I found difficult, my eyes have trouble focusing toward that side and keeping the facial hair even will be tough without a second mirror.

On the underside of the jaw I went WTG for a lot of it but once I started getting close to that neck contour I backed off, this still has me REALLY scared and I don't think I'll be doing that area WTG.
I noticed two or three drops of blood here, they didn't hurt like I thought they would, and I've actually gotten them before using my Fusion etc. so I wasn't disappointed or anything, but man does it look ugly on the razor and cream! There are no visible cuts after the cold rinse/ Woody's ASB.

I did my actual neck area ATG, I just found it to be so much easier to actually shave as you can see the hair before you shave it whereas WTG the razor is blocking the view.

I did an XTG in one direction and while I heard a lot of stubble I saw almost no cutting, I did finish up my left sideburn this way and saw afterwards it got closer as I got more confident but still wasn't nearly as close as

ATG for the rest of it! Why not, things were going so easily I decided to swing for the fences. I did the underside of the jaw as this is the toughest skin on my face and it really just cut through like absolute butter, this has to be the shaving cream because the blade just absolutely glided and I felt NOTHING. I couldn't believe it, watching all those hairs get cut and no pulling!

I then went with the cheek, and I noticed a little bit of pulling and changed the angle slightly and it stopped right away, man this thing shaves sooooooooooo @#$^%ing good! I finish up both cheeks and leaving the left sideburn area XTG .

My skin doesn't feel any pain at all, I haven't shaved in a few days and I knew that'd help but even waiting with a Fusion ATG always made my face hurt, it just never broke out, my face feels great! And my skin is sooooooooooo smooth. I feel patches where I obviously didn't get very well but this.... this is excellent.

:D:D

Cheers!
notthesharpest
Assistant Dean SMFU
Posts: 9449
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:32 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by notthesharpest »

Congratulations Tom. Your co-ordination is far better than mine, obviously. :lol:

Obviously, if you like it, keep it up. I know nothing about L'Occitane soap, so I have no advice there - but definitely stick with the cream that works for now. You can experiment with the soap later.
tom10168
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:57 am

Post by tom10168 »

Well, to be fair, TBS cream comes out super fast and I probably put twice as much in the mug as LO(though it is much thinner.)

It is interesting, I am pretty uncoordinated and have always done poorly in gym, can't swim in a straight line juggle terrible penmanship etc.

Hell the other day I lost my balance just.... standing and ended up tearing my towel rod right out of the wall.
=\
notthesharpest
Assistant Dean SMFU
Posts: 9449
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:32 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Post by notthesharpest »

The biggest problem I have with soap lather (as opposed to cream) is simply not getting enough soap on the brush to begin with.

Anyway, seriously, stick with what worked and get some good shaves under your belt.
Post Reply